Chief of Police
The City of Wilson seeks a law enforcement leader with at least 20 years of progressively responsible policing experience in a municipality with a population comparable to Wilson (approximately 48,000 residents) or no more than 30% smaller. Must have 4-7 years of cross-functional and progressively responsible experience, including administrative and command-level work. A BA/BS degree and equivalent years of experience are required. The following qualifications are preferred:
- A master’s degree.
- Graduation from an executive development law enforcement program (ex. FBI National Academy, AOMP, PERF Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP).
- Experience with CALEA accreditation.
- Experience managing special events—such as stadium events or street events.
The City of Wilson, which operates under a Council/Manager form of Government, is led by a Mayor and seven council members. Wilson is well-managed and has several high-performing and award-winning departments, including accredited Police, Fire, Parks and Recreation Departments, and the Downtown Development Division. Wilson Energy, which serves 35,000 customers in a five-county region, is a Reliable Public Power Provider and is consistently recognized for first-in-class reliability.
The City’s recently completed Wilson Growing Together: The 2043 Comprehensive Plan guides future development and growth within Wilson and addresses many key issues, including growing intentionally, connecting people and places, fostering vibrant neighborhoods, promoting economic prosperity, conserving green places, creating active and thriving communities, plan implementation, and community engagement. The City’s FY2026 budget totals $274,003,270 and maintains the City’s current tax rate of $0.525 cents per $100 of taxable valuation. Learn more about the City of Wilson here.
Reporting to the Assistant City Manager, the Chief of Police oversees a FY2026 budget of approximately $18,353,460 million and leads a senior staff that includes two majors and six captains, as well as a department of 143 employees. A primary responsibility of the next Chief of Police will be to increase staffing levels and strengthen recruitment and retention efforts to address current vacancies, workload challenges, and burnout. The department must compete more effectively in a regional market where surrounding agencies may offer comparable or higher pay with less work. The Chief will play a central role in workforce planning, advocating for competitive pay and incentives, and ensuring staffing strategies align with anticipated growth, new industry development, and major initiatives such as the upcoming baseball stadium. Additionally, the Chief will evaluate operational practices, policies, and leadership approaches to ensure fairness, transparency, and clarity while helping the organization move forward in a unified direction.
Key Position Priorities:
- Build a strong organizational culture and aligned leadership structure through improved internal communication, clear chain-of-command expectations, supervisory support, consistent accountability, and defined leadership.
- Stabilize staffing and improve retention by addressing manpower shortages, creatively evaluating vacancies, and implementing staffing strategies that keep pace with growth so officers are not asked to do more with less.
- Enhance operational readiness and officer support by assessing fleet, equipment, technology, and resource needs to ensure officers have safe and effective tools—while preparing for continued growth and evolving service demands.
- Manage the department’s budget with strong fiscal oversight by planning for current and future needs, advocating for sustainable funding, and addressing salary compression and compensation challenges through a clear, long-term strategy.
Learn more about the City of Wilson’s Police Department here.